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STATEMENT  OF  ANDREW  W.  PREST&W,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE 
UNITED  FRUIT  CO.,  BEFORE  THE  COMMITTEE  ON  THE  MER- 
CHANT MARINE  AND  FISHERIES  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRE- 
SENTATIVES AT  WASHINGTON,  D.C.,  ON  MONDAY,  THE  27th 
DAY  OF  JANUARY,  1913. 


A 


In  view  of  the  iact  that  the  provisions  of  the  resolution,  pursuant  to  which  this 
hearing  is  held,  expressly  empowered  and  directed  your  Committee  to  make  a com- 
plete and  thorough  investigation  of  the  methods  and  practices  of  ship  lines  and 
transportation  agencies  engaged  in  over-sea,  coastwise,  and  inland  commerce  and 
of  the  effect  which  the  said  methods  and  practices  have  on  the  commerce  of  the 
United  States,  it  seems  proper  to  ask  the  privilege  of  submitting  a brief  statement 
covering  the  methods  and  practices  of  the  United  Fruit  Co.  and  of  their  effect 
upon  the  commerce  of  the  United  States. 


A Brief  Statement  of  the  Policy  of  the  United  Fruit  Co.  with  Reference  to  Transporta- 
tion Business. 


The  United  Fruit  Co.  was  organized  particularly  to  engage  in  the  business  of 
growing,  transporting,  and  selling  tropical  fruits  and  sugar.  As  its  products  were 
obtained  in  foreign  countries,  transportation  necessarily  became  a part  of  its  business, 
and  while  the  transportation  business  has  always  been  secondary  to  its  fruit  and  sugar 
business,  nevertheless  it  has  in  the  course  of  events  developed  into  a very  important 
part  of  the  Company’s  business  and  has  grown  to  large  proportions  at  the  present 
time.  It  may  not  be  amiss  to  open  this  statement  by  a declaration  of  the  policy 
which  the  Company  has  pursued  in  the  past  with  reference  to  the  transportation  busi- 
ness and  which  it  intends  and  expects  to  pursue  in  its  future  development. 

It  has  been  the  policy  of  this  Company  to  keep  itself  free  from  all  alliances, 
combinations,  and  contracts  with  other  transportation  companies.  It  is  not  a party 
to  any  pooling  agreement,  or  any  agreement  having  as  its  object  a division  of  territory, 
division  of  traffic,  or  the  regulation  of  sailings,  or  any  other  agreement  which  would 
hamper  or  restrain  it  in  respect  of  such  matters.  When  the  United  Fruit  Co.  entered 


37552 


2 


actively  into  the  transportation  business  in  the  Caribbean  Seas  about  the  beginning 
of  1904,  it  found  there  three  established  regular  steamship  lines,  namely,  the  Panama 
Railroad  Steamship  Line,  the  Hamburg-American  Line,  and  the  Royal  Mail  Line. 
These  companies  had  practically  the  same  rates  of  freight  between  the  United  States 
and  Central  and  South  American  points.  It  was  not  the  polipy  of  this  Company, 
in  entering  that  business,  to  start  a rate  war  or  secretly  to  cut  rates,  or  otherwise 
conduct  its  business  except  in  a legitimate  and  proper  manner,  and  assurances  Were 
given  the  older  lines  that  it  was  ndt  the  intention  of  this  Company  to  do  any  of  the 
things  mentioned,  but  that  any  changes  it  might  make  in  the  prevailing  rates  v*ould 
be  public  and  previously  notified  to  them.  However,  this  Company  has  in  no  wise 
obligated  itself,  and  is  not  obligated,  to  any  steamship  company  to  maintain  any 
set  of  rates,  and  is  free  at  any  time  that  it  deems  proper  to  make  whatever  rates 
it  may  see  fit.  This  has  been  the  policy  of  the  Company  in  the  past,  and  so  long 
as  the  present  administration  of  the  Company  exists  it  will  be  maintained  in  the 
future.  It  is  our  purpose  and  object  to  develop  as  much  as  we  can  the,  foreign  busi-, 
ness  of  the  United  States  with  Central  and  South  America,  and  to  get  as  much  of1 
that  business  as  we  legitimately  can,  and  this,  we  believe,  can  be  best  accomplished 
by  being  entirely  independent  of  any  combinations  or  contracts  with  other  transpor- 
tation lines.  ’ 

■ is  'J 

. j • ; * ; 'J 

There  can  be  no  better  way  of  showing  “the  effect  of  the  methods”  of  the 
United  Fruit  Co.  “on  commerce  of  the  United  States”  than  to  let  the  following 
facts  speak  for  themselves. 

United  Fruit  Co.  as  a Carrier  of  “ Over-sea  or  Foreign  Commerce .” 

• , ; : j • * ' i 

It  has  been  some  twelve  years  since  the  United  Fruit  Co.,  an  American  enter- 
prise, entered  into  competition  with  the  older  steamship  lines  for  business  to  the  West 
Indies,  and  Central  and  South  America.  During  the  first  fiscal  year  of  the  Com- 
pany’s existence,  which  terminated  on  the  31st  August,  1900,  the  Company  emT 
ployed  44  vessels  in  connection  with  its  business  and  carried  about  319,000  tons  of 
freight,  of  which  only  51,000  tons,  or  16  per  cent.,  consisted  of  general  freight  car- 
ried for  the  public.  The  remaining  84  per  cent,  consisted  of  bananas,  miscellaneous 
fruit,  and  merchandise  belonging  to  the  Company  and  carried  for  its  own  account. 
During  the  last  fiscal  year  terminating  on  the  30th  September,  1912,  the  Company 
employed  81  vessels  in  connection  with  its  business  and  carried  1,113,741  tons,  of 
which  359,686  tons  of  freight,  or  32  per  cent.,  consisted  of  general  freight  belonging 
to  the  public,  and  the  remainder,  or  68  per  cent.,  consisted  of  bananas,  miscel- 
laneous fruit,  and  general  merchandise  belonging  to  and  carried  for  account  of  the 
Company. 


3 


During  the  first  year  of  the  Company’s  business  the  largest  ship  employed  in 
connection  with  its  business  had  a tonnage  of  about  2,000  tons  and  a capacity  of 
35,000  bunches  of  bananas.  In  the  early  years  of  its  business  practically  all  the 
Company’s  ships  were  chartered  from  Norwegian  or  other  foreign  owners,  but  in 
order  to  obtain  vessels  properly  adapted,  not  only  for  bananas  but  also  for  general 
transportation  business,  it  has  been  necessary  to  build  some  twenty  steamships, 
which  are  the  largest  and  best  of  the  Company’s  line  and  have  a total  tonnage  of 
117,252  tons.  The  last  steamer  which  has  just  been  placed  in  the  service  and 
others  now  under  construction  each  have  a tonnage  of  over  8,000  tons  and  a 
capacity  of  70,000  bunches  of  bananas,  with  a corresponding  increase  in  the  amount 
of  space  available  for  other  cargo.  The  total  tonnage  of  ships  now,  or  about  to 
be,  employed  by  the  United  Fruit  Co.  in  the  foreign  commerce  of  the  United  States 
aggregates  approximately  200,000  tons. 

During  the  first  year  of  the  Company’s  business  the  ships  employed  by  the 
Company  had  passenger  accommodations  for  a total  of  350  passengers.  At  the 
present  time  the  ships  so  employed  have  passenger  accommodations  for  a total  of 
over  2,000  passengers.  During  the  first  year  of  the  Company’s  business,  the  num- 
ber of  passengers  carried  was  but  nominal,  while  during  the  past  year  the  total 
number  of  passengers  carried  by  the  United  Fruit  Co.  was  24,783. 


Effect  of  United  Fruit  Co.  on  Foreign  Commerce. 

The  United  Fruit  Co.  has  realized  from  its  beginning  that  the  most  essential  and 
important  thing  for  the  success  of  its  business  in  the  Tropics  was  to  make  adequate 
provision  for  its  employees;  i.e.,  to  insure  their  good  health  by  creating  proper  san- 
itary conditions  in  their  surroundings.  This  policy  is  one  of  the  chief  reasons  for  the 
success  of  the  Company.  It  was  followed  by  the  United  States  Government  in  un- 
dertaking the  construction  of  the  Panama  Canal,  and  is  primarily  responsible  for 
the  success  of  the  construction  of  the  Canal  by  our  own  Government.  The  impor- 
tance of  this  subject  to  the  United  Fruit  Co.  is  apparent  from  the  fact  that  it  em- 
ploys over  37,000  men  in  the  Tropics  in  connection  with  its  business. 

In  the  various  tropical  countries  where  it  is  engaged  in  business,  the  United 
Fruit  Co.  has  constructed  sewerage  and  drainage  systems,  installed  water  supplies, 
constructed  ice  plants,  filled  in  low  and  swampy  land,  macadamized  streets,  built 
and  maintained  parks,  and  done  various  other  work  with  the  object  of  improving 
the  local  conditions  at  the  cost  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars. 

The  Company  was  largely  instrumental  in  establishing  in  the  Tulane  Uni- 
versity at  New  Orleans  a department  for  the  study  of  tropical  diseases,  the  first  of 
its  kind  in  the  United  States,  and  it  contributes  substantially  to  the  support  of  that 
department. 


4 


It  has  constructed,  or  has  under  construction,  hospitals  in  various  countries 
costing  the  aggregate  amount  of  over  $300,000.  During  the  past  year  over  63,000 
cases  have  been  treated  in  these  hospitals,  and  over  17,000  of  those  were  for  pa- 
tients who  were  not  employees  of  the  Company.  The  total  cost  of  operation  of 
the  Fruit  Co.’s  hospital  service  for  the  last  year  alone  was  $240,000. 

It  is  a great  source  of  gratification  to  us  that  the  Surgeon-General  of  the  United 
States  Public  Health  Service  has  stated  that  the  Department  looked  upon  the  United 
Fruit  Co.  as  a model  of  progressive  action  on  the  part  of  steamship  companies  in  pub- 
lic health  work,  and  drawn  attention  to  the  eminent  value  of  our  efforts  in  ship 
interests.  We  also  have  letters  of  a similar  nature  from  almost  every  health  organ- 
ization in  our  Southern  States. 

During  the  past  year  we  have  not  had  a single  case  of  any  disease  subject  to 
quarantine  appear  in  any  port  where  our  Company  is  engaged  in  business,  nor  have 
we  had  a single  case  appear  on  any  of  the  ships  in  our  service.  This  final  excellent 
result  is  attributed  to  our  policy  of  proper  sanitation  and  hospital  service,  and  the 
results  speak  for  themselves,  especially  when  one  considers  that  we  were  sur- 
rounded last  year  by  infection,  including  yellow  fever  and  the  dreaded  plague  itself. 
Not  only  has  our  policy  benefited  the  United  Fruit  Co.,  but  it  has  been  of  inesti- 
mable value  to  merchants  of  the  United  States  and  others  whose  business  in  the 
Tropics  has  required  their  presence  there. 

The  Fruit  Co.  has  also  constructed  modern  and  sanitary  homes  for  its  em- 
ployees at  an  expenditure  of  many  thousands  of  dollars.  It  has  also  constructed 
and  maintains  schools  in  Panama,  Costa  Rica,  Guatemala,  Jamaica,  and  Cuba, 
with  accommodations  for  a total  of  over  500  pupils. 

So  far  with  reference  to  the  efforts  of  the  United  Fruit  Co.  to  rid  our  Central 
and  South  American  trade  of  the  restrictions  and  impediments  resulting  from  the 
contagious  and  infectious  diseases  prevailing  in  the  Tropics  and  to  provide  for  the 
Company’s  employees,  we  come  now  to  a consideration  of  the  more  material  de- 
velopment of  the  resources  of  those  countries  by  the  operations  of  the  Company. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  fiscal  year  of  the  Company’s  business  the  total  acreage 
of  lands  owned  and  leased  by  the  United  Fruit  Co.  in  the  West  Indies  and  Central 
America  aggregated  236,201  acres,  of  which  66,294  acres  were  under  cultivation; 
at  the  close  of  the  last  fiscal  year  of  the  Company  the  total  acreage  of  lands  owned 
and  leased  by  the  Fruit  Co.  was  852,560  acres,  of  which  221,837  acres  were  under 
cultivation.  In  connection  with  acquiring  property,  clearing  forests,  creating  plan- 
tations, constructing  railroads  and  other  works  of  various  kinds,  the  United  Fruit 
Co.  has  expended,  in  cash,  towards  the  development  of  Tropical  America  the  total 
sum  of  $190,000,000. 

During  its  first  year  the  United  Fruit  Co.  did  not  produce  a single  pound  of 
sugar;  during  the  last  year  the  Company  produced  at  its  mill  at  Banes,  Cuba, 


5 


144,247,580  pounds  of  sugar.  This  is  not  the  result  of  absorbing  or  purchasing 
other  companies  engaged  in  the  sugar  business,  but  is  a business  built  up  solely  by 
the  United  Fruit  Co.  The  Company’s  sugar  equipment  is  in  excellent  condition, 
and  even  now  we  are  devoting  our  energies  to  the  development  of  a new  process  of 
making  sugar,  which,  we  trust,  may  result  in  a substantial  reduction  in  the  price 
of  sugar. 

During  the  first  year  of  the  Company’s  existence  the  total  amount  of  merchan- 
dise purchased  in  the  United  States  for  export  to  foreign  countries  for  use  in  con- 
nection with  the  Company’s  business  amounted  to  8754,506;  during  the  last  fiscal 
year  of  the  Company  this  extremely  important  item  to  merchants  of  the  United 
States  amounted  to  $4,020,660. 

While  the  United  Fruit  Co.  has  been  engaged  in  increasing  and  perfecting  its 
own  business,  it  has  not  been  necessary  either  to  attempt  to  gain  the  entire  trade  in 
bananas  or  to  resort  to  any  other  methods  of  competition  than  are  to  be  expected 
and  encouraged  in  proper  and  usual  conditions  of  trade.  Accordingly,  while  the 
number  of  bananas  imported  by  the  Company  have  increased  from  11,000,000  bunches 
during  its  first  year  to  approximately  25,000,000  bunches  during  the  last  fiscal  year, 
the  importations  of  others,  as  closely  as  we  can  estimate,  has  increased  from  about 
5,000,000  bunches  in  1900  to  over  17,000,000  bunches  in  1912.  It  also  seems  safe 
to  state  that  the  number  of  such  other  persons  and  companies  engaged  in  importing 
bananas  has  probably  increased,  and  certainly  is  no  less  than  prior  to  the  Company’s 
organization. 

The  United  Fruit  Co.  has  been  and  is  one  of  the  chief  factors  in  increasing  the 
trade  relations  between  the  United  States  and  Central  America  and  the  West  Indies. 
Not  only  has  it  directly  created  extensive  commerce,  but  indirectly  it  has  assisted 
others  by  according  superior  passenger  and  freight  accommodations  to  merchants 
of  the  United  States,  enabling  them  to  visit  and  ship  goods  to  many  countries,  some 
of  which  until  recently  were  comparatively  unknown  in  the  United  States.  The 
fact  that  the  Company’s  own  business  moves  from  the  Tropics  to  the  United  States 
makes  available  on  the  return  trip  a large  amount  of  space  for  goods  exported 
by  merchants  of  the  United  States  to  the  various  countries  served  by  its  steamship 
lines.  Its  steamships  ply  between  the  ports  of  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
Baltimore,  Charleston,  New  Orleans,  Mobile  and  Galveston,  and  ports  in  Jamaica, 
Guatemala,  British  and  Spanish  Honduras,  Costa  Rica,  Panama,  and  Colombia. 

In  order  to  foster  and  develop  trade  between  the  United  States  and  Central  Amer- 
ica, the  United  Fruit  Co.  has  also  on  various  occasions,  at  a great  cost  and  expense  to  it- 
self, compiled  and  published  for  free  distribution  among  the  merchants  of  the  United 
States  business  directories  giving  the  names  and  classified  lists  of  the  merchants  in 
Central  America.  It  has  disseminated  other  information,  and  has  done  everything 
it  could  to  assist  merchants  who  were  contemplating  extending  their  business  to 


6 


Central  America.  It  has  also  made  a special  effort  to  assist  commercial  travellers 
and  merchants  in  developing  this  business.  The  result  of  these  activities  by  the 
United  Fruit  Co.  has  been  extremely  gratifying.  The  following  tabulated  statement 
which  is  taken  from  the  records  of  the  New  Orleans  Board  of  Trade,  which  in  turn 
was  taken  from  the  customs  records,  gives  some  idea  as  to  the  results  obtained  in  a 
single  port  of  our  country,  due  largely  to  the  efforts  of  the  United  Fruit  Co.: — 


Exports  to  the  West  Indies  and  Central  America  from  New  Orleans. 


Country. 

1900. 

1911. 

British  Honduras 

$244,247 

$1,266,320 

Guatemala 

58,343 

862,746 

Spanish  Honduras 

403,828 

1,205,668 

Nicaragua 

936,825 

904,837 

Costa  Rica 

354,269 

993,190 

Panama  

000 

3,616,668 

Mexico 

595,044 

3,836,534 

Cuba 

1,817,583 

5,223,695 

Totals 

$4,410,139 

$17,909,658 

This  statement  would  not  be  complete  in  showing  the  effect  of  the  United  Fruit 
Co.  on  foreign  commerce  if  time  were  at  least  not  taken  to  mention  its  extensive 
wireless  telegraph  system  which  it  has  established  and  maintains  from  the  United 
States  to  Central  and  South  America,  and  the  lighthouse  service  which  was  inaugu- 
rated by  it  along  the  coast  of  Central  America.  It  has  constructed  and  established 
lighthouses  at  Puerto  Barrios,  Guatemala,  Punta  Gorda,  Utila  Island  and  False  Cape, 
Honduras,  and  Bocas  del  Toro,  Panama,  in  addition  to  which  it  has  marked  with 
beacons  and  lights  the  harbor  entrances  to  many  Central  American  ports.  These 
facilities,  of  course,  redound  not  only  to  its  own  benefit,  but  to  commerce  at  large. 

In  a recent  address  delivered  in  Boston,  Hon.  John  Barrett,  the  Director  of  the 
Pan-American  Union  and  a recognized  authority  on  Central  and  South  America, 
declared  that  the  United  Fruit  Co.  was  one  of  the  most  important  factors  in  creating 
and  developing  commerce  between  the  United  States  and  Central  America,  some- 
thing which  is  so  essential  to  the  prosperity  and  welfare  of  all  concerned.  Certainly, 
the  immense  trade  of  the  United  Fruit  Co.,  which  has  been  originated  and  devel- 
oped to  the  present  extent,  does  not  appear  to  have  been  detrimental  to  foreign 
commerce,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  most  beneficial  in- 
fluences in  the  development  of  the  foreign  commerce  of  the  United  States. 


7 


* 


Effect  on  Inland  Commerce  of  United  States. 

Attention  has  already  been  called  to  the  increase  of  some  14,000,000  bunches 
in  the  number  of  bananas  of  the  United  Fruit  Co.  sold  in  this  country  during  theTast 
year  over  the  number  sold  during  the  first  year  of  its  existence,  and  also  to  a similar 
increase  of  12,000,000  bunches  in  the  bananas  sold  by  others  in  the  United  States. 

As  regards  the  effect  of  the  methods  of  the  United  Fruit  Co.  upon  the  whole- 
sale and  retail  fruit  business  of  the  United  States,  the  Company  does  not  engage  in 
the  retail  business,  and  the  number  of  wholesale  dealers  to  whom  its  bananas  are 
sold  has  increased  over  40  per  cent,  since  the  year  the  Company  started  in  business. 
The  dealings  of  the  Company  with  its  customers  are  extremely  satisfactory,  and  no 
more  eloquent  testimony  can  be  furnished  than  the  fact  that  the  percentage  of  loss 
from  disputes,  disagreements,  and  bad  debts  during  the  last  fiscal  year  was  less 
than  .03  of  1 per  cent,  on  gross  sales. 

The  Company  receives  no  discriminations  from  railroads  whatever.  It  pays  the 
regular  rates  of  freight,  and  never  has  received  any  rebate  or  anything  of  the  kind. 
Among  the  railroads  which  carry  its  large  product  may  be  mentioned  the  following: 
Boston  & Maine,  Boston  & Albany,  New  York,  New  Haven  & Hartford,  New 
York  Central,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Lackawanna  & Western,  Lehigh  Valley, 
Philadelphia  & Reading,  Baltimore  & Ohio,  Illinois  Central,  Southern  Pacific,  Texas 
& Pacific,  Louisville  & Nashville,  Mobile  & Ohio,  New  Orleans  & North  Eastern, 
Atlantic  Coast  Line,  Southern  Railway,  Canadian  Pacific,  Grand  Trunk,  Chicago, 
Milwaukee  & St.  Paul,  Chicago,  Burlington  & Quincy,  St.  Louis  & San  Francisco, 
Wabash,  New  York,  Chicago  & St.  Louis,  Seaboard  Air  Line,  and  Chicago,  Rock 
Island  & Pacific. 

The  traffic  of  the  United  Fruit  Co.  is  not  only  of  great  value  to  the  railroads, 
but  also  to  other  shippers.  The  total  weight  of  the  Company’s  business  handled 
in  the  United  States  during  the  year  1912  was  over  1,167,000,000  pounds,  or 
583,500  tons.  All  of  this  was  not  transported  by  rail,  but  a very  great  proportion 
was,  and,  as  the  haul  is  usually  long  and  in  the  opposite  direction  to  the  bulk  of 
railroad  traffic,  it  is  obvious  how  valuable  the  business  is  to  the  railroads  and  how 
it  necessarily  has  a most  important  bearing  in  the  reduction  of  freight  rates  for 
other  traffic,  such  as  meats  shipped  to  the  seaboard  for  export. 

Undoubtedly,  the  most  important  effect  of  the  United  Fruit  Co.  on  the  inland 
commerce  of  the  United  States  is  that  it  is  largely  responsible  for  the  fact  that  the 
banana,  which  was  formerly  a luxury,  has  become  recognized  as  one  of  the  ne- 
cessities of  life  and  can  now  be  had  at  a price  within  the  reach  of  all.  It  can  be 
stated  with  positive  assurance  that,  while  practically  all  other  necessities  of  life  have 


8 


largely  increased  in  price  during  the  past  ten  years,  bananas  are  to-day  as  cheap  as 
ever. 

0 

The  retail  price  of  bananas  to-day  ranges  from  10  to  25  cents  a dozen,  making 
it  the  cheapest  fruit  on  the  market  to-day.  When  the  Company  first  entered  into 
business,  there  were  many  points  in  the  United  States  where  the  banana  was  com- 
paratively unknown,  but  where  to-day  it  may  be  purchased  at  a price  only  slightly 
in  advance  of  that  which  prevails  at  the  seaboard.  This  is  largely  due  to 
superior  methods  of  cultivation,  transportation,  and  handling  introduced  and 
practised  by  the  United  Fruit  Co.  Moreover,  the  quality  of  the  fruit  to-day 
has  greatly  improved  over  that  of  ten  years  ago.  It  is  also  true  that  to-day 
the  banana  is  used  as  a cooked  vegetable,  whereas  formerly  it  was  only  regarded 
as  a fruit.  The  importance  which  the  banana  takes  to-day  in  keeping  down  the 
already  high  cost  of  living  is  being  generally  recognized.  For  example,  I quote 
the  following  from  the  report  of  the  American  Consul  in  Jamaica  which  appeared 
in  the  Daily  Consular  and  Trade  Reports,  issued  by  the  Department  of  Com- 
merce and  Labor,  on  December  26th,  1912,  to  wit:  “As  all  the  conditions  seem 
to  be  favorable  for  a greatly  enlarged  production  of  bananas,  and  as  the  highly 
nutritive  qualities  of  this  fruit  are  becoming  more  generally  recognized,  it  is 
encouraging  in  this  day  of  high  cost  of  living  to  have  good  reasons  for  believing 
that  the  banana  is  destined  to  play  no  small  part  in  meeting  the  world’s  insistent 
demand  for  a larger  and  cheaper  supply  of  wholesome  food.” 


Conclusion. 

In  conclusion,  we  wish  to  refer  briefly  to  the  whole  broad  question  of  American 
interests  in  Central  and  Northern  South  America.  The  strategic  position  and  influ- 
ence of  the  United  States,  in  so  far  as  the  State,  Navy,  and  War  Departments  are 
concerned,  has  been,  and  is  being,  most  ably  directed  by  the  Government,  but  the 
important  question  of  the  commercial  influence  of  the  United  States  with  these 
countries  will  not  show  a result  consistent  with  the  efforts  our  Government  is  making 
unless  those  efforts  are  supplemented  by  genuine  commercial  relations  with  these 
countries.  With  some  minor  exceptions,  the  United  Fruit  Co.  is  to-day  the  only 
effective  medium  of  distinctly  American  trade  relations  with  the  countries  concerned. 
The  rivalry,  both  in  the  exchanges  of  merchandise  and  the  means  of  transportation, 
with  the  European  countries  is  so  acute,  and  the  determination  of  certain  of  our 
European  friends  not  to  let  go  of  their  commercial  supremacy  in  that  part  of  the 
world  is  so  intense,  that  no  company  less  powerful  than  the  United  Fruit  Co.  could 
for  a moment  stand  up  against  European  competition.  The  fact  that  the  Company 
is  in  the  tropical  countries  an  enormous  producer  of  freight  for  its  own  ships  helps 


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the  Company  to  operate  its  ships  and  develop  American  trade,  in  both  directions, 
in  a way  which  under  other  conditions  would  be  absolutely  impossible.  It  is  not  to 
be  forgotten  that  the  chief  competitors  of  the  United  Fruit  Co.  are  foreign  companies 
reported  to  be  supported  either  by  substantial  subsidies  or  powerful  governmental 
co-operation. 


p 


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